Rice · Rice · Short entry
Pachchaperumal
පච්චපෙරුමාල්
A red-pericarp traditional rice of Sri Lanka with a bold grain and high amylose. The Department of Agriculture used it as a parent of the early improved varieties H 7 (1964) and H 10 (1968). Studies find it richer in protein than most other traditional varieties tested.
Red bran, firm starch
Pachchaperumal is a red rice: its bran (pericarp) is red. In a 2020 study its dehulled, unmilled grain measured 5.7 mm by 2.8 mm, a bold shape, and it was among the thickest of the nine traditional varieties tested. The authors class it as medium in length, while some earlier studies classed it as short, so the length class sits on the boundary.
Its amylose is high. A two-season trial found 27.65 % in both the Yala and Maha seasons, one of the most stable values in the set, and a later study of 39 varieties measured 29.3 %. The same later study found higher protein in cooked milled Pachchaperumal than in the other traditional varieties tested.
A parent of the H varieties
Sri Lanka's Rice Research and Development Institute lists Pachchaperumal in the pedigree of two of its early improved varieties, H 7 (released 1964) and H 10 (released 1968), both bred from Pachchaperumal, Mas and H 5. Both are listed with red pericarp and an intermediate bold grain, and mature in 105 and 90 days respectively.